


chase me

by selfishselfless



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Happy Posie, Pining, Posie Endgame, hizzie breadcrumbs, hope didnt yeet herself into malivore in this okay, posie - Freeform, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 13:16:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19442209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/selfishselfless/pseuds/selfishselfless
Summary: penelope returns to the salvatore school after some time in belgium. penelope and josie decide to be friends. josie’s surprised when penelope doesn’t chase her.





	chase me

**Author's Note:**

> a one shot based heavily on this tweet: https://twitter.com/penelopescoven/status/1141347204365508610?s=21

the day started out normal. or at least, what was normal now. josie woke up and went to breakfast, she was staying in her own room nightly again. not by her choice though, her dad told her they needed penelope's room a few days ago. she took the last of penelope’s clothes left there and hid them deep in her closet, wanting to keep them for herself. keep penelope's scent lingering on them. 

she’ll admit, she misses penelope. she knows feelings are still there in one way or another. but she wouldn’t admit it out loud, only push it deep down and keep it to herself. 

she walks absentmindedly to breakfast, her head down, wearing one of penelope's cropped shirts under her yellow sweater. hopefully lizzie wouldn’t call her out for it today like she had last time. no one seemed to understand why josie was still grieving two months later considering the girl who broke her heart had left, but to their defense, josie hadn’t told anyone all of what penelope had said to her before she left. some things felt better kept to herself. 

when she got to breakfast, she felt a weird tension in the air. it was quieter than usual in the cafeteria, people seeming to be more grouped together. she heard whispers as she walked through and grabbed food, hearing penelope's name mentioned a few times but she brushed it off. everyone was drawn to penelope, no one had ever really stopped mentioning her. 

she sat down next to lizzie, not paying much attention to the conversation she was having with hope and mg. they had learned over the past two months that josie tends to just tune them out. hope calms lizzie down when she has her moments over it, telling her that josie’s hurting and healing in her own way. reminding lizzie that josie doesn’t always do this, but breakfast was where she had begun hanging out with penelope, it was their own private time when they dated, it’s where the stare downs between the two started after the breakup. 

josie snapped out of her thoughts when she heard an all too familiar laugh and her eyes went wide. it couldn’t be her, she had to be making it up. she knew she wasn’t the minute mg reacted.

“peez!” he yelled

lizzie looked at josie with wide eyes and an unreadable expression and josie just stared back. unsure of what look she even had on her face. she could feel hopes eyes on them both from across the table. 

“hey milton,” penelope laughed from behind josie, “sorry to leave you like that.”

her voice, god her voice. josie felt so many things just at the sound of her voice so close to her again. it was intoxicating, it always had been. a voice she could pick out of any and a voice that never failed to get her heart rate up anytime it took her by surprise. she felt like her breath was caught in her throat.

“what are you doing back?”

“the school in belgium just wasn’t the right fit. dr saltzman said since it had only been two months that i could go back to my old room and old schedule so everything is back to normal as far as i’m concerned.”

“how long have you been back?” hope asked, “it’s good to see you again.”

“four days. i’ve been in my room setting it back up and sleeping off the jet lag.”

josie kept her head down and didn’t dare to turn around. she hadn’t been sure of what she’d do when she saw penelope again but she surely wasn’t ready for something so soon and unexpected.

she heard penelopes heels click as she walked around the table followed by some other footsteps that meant her posse was back at her beck and call. penelope took a seat next to hope and josie could feel her eyes on her but thankfully, lizzie spoke before josie felt the need to blurt something out. 

“come back to burn my world down?” lizzie seethed

josie could smell her signature expensive perfume lingering around her, the familiar scent making her dizzy with memories.

“as i’ve said before, it’s not about you. in fact, this time it’s just about me. this schools better than the one in belgium.” penelope said, no hint of malice in her voice 

“you dropped the merge on us just to leave immediately after and expect me to think you aren’t back to ruin my life?”

josie felt herself flinch at the mention of the merge and penelope leaving. she felt penelopes eyes snap back to her.

“i didn’t want to keep that from either of you any longer. that wouldn’t have been fair to do.” penelope replied calmly. 

“whatever. i don’t wanna catch anything from you so i’m leaving.” lizzie snapped before getting up and walking away, hope following behind her quietly. 

“josie.” penelope said softly after a moment, “look at me?” 

she took a deep breath, finally looking up and realizing that everyone else at the table had left. it was only her and penelope. not even penelopes posse was anywhere to be seen.

“you’re back.” josie said quietly, meeting her eyes and feeling her heart drop to her stomach. she missed the feeling she got when she met penelopes eyes. it was a good feeling that simultaneously felt like a stabbing in her chest. her eyes were so pretty, josie had always enjoyed looking into them. it was bittersweet to do so again.

“i am.” penelope replied, “nice shirt.”

josie suddenly felt embarrassed and she put her head down on the table and groaned, “you left it. i was staying in your room for a bit and took what you left for… safe keeping.”

“i left it for you.” she laughed lightly, “i know what you liked of mine. you can keep that shirt and whatever else you have. it looks better on you anyways.”

josie lifted her head up and she felt lighter, the look on penelopes face was light and happy. it felt calmer and it was nice to see her again, especially without tears in her eyes and hurt written across her features. it felt nice to have penelope act flirty with her like she had before. it was a comforting and refreshing feeling. 

she met penelope's eyes and froze, unsure of what exactly she wanted to do. she wanted to cry and scream at penelope for leaving her, she wanted to hug her and beg her to never leave again. she wanted to be happy about her being back, she wanted to be sad, she wanted to be angry. she wanted to kiss penelope until they couldn’t breathe. she wanted to run away and never see penelope again. she wanted to set something on fire. instead of doing any of those things, she settled for smiling at penelope and easily receiving one in return. 

“i’ll see you around, josie.” penelope finally said as she reached out and squeezed josie’s hand before standing up and walking off.

maybe now, things would feel better. maybe now, things wouldn’t feel so empty anymore. 

—————————————————————

the next week, things felt more normal than they had been in two months. penelope returning shifted everything back to the way it used to be and josie was beyond thankful for that. except for the fact that she never caught penelopes eyes anymore. she had grown used to penelope watching her whenever they were in a room, she was used to the staredowns they’d always have when josie would lock eyes with her. she’d noticed the fact that penelope didnt seem to magically appear anywhere josie was and look at her longingly or have something to say to josie or a rude comment to throw lizzies way. she wondered if that part had something to do with now knowing why penelope did it.

the thing was, penelope had always been one to catch josies eyes wherever she was. she did it from the moment they met for the first time and she never stopped. not until now. josie felt indescribably empty without that.

josie spotted penelope sitting in the cafeteria early at breakfast, students not yet starting to pile in, she thought that maybe this could be her chance to at least ask penelope what changed in those two months that had penelope acting completely different. she took a deep breath and made her way over easily since lizzie was too distracted hanging out in hopes room that she was sure her twin wouldnt even notice by the time they got down to breakfast. 

“hi penelope,” she said, “mind if i sit with you?”

“of course not,” penelope smiled, “you sure your sister won’t get on you for it?”

“well she hangs with hope most of the time now anyways.” josie laughed, “i’ve learned to try to do more of what i want in the past two months.”

“finally putting yourself first. i see i got into your head at least a little after our last conversation,” her expression changed to an unreadable one for a second but she continued before josie had a chance to ask about it, “i’m glad to see you putting yourself before her and i’m glad to see that you all learning about the merge didn’t seem to tear you two apart.”

“it did for a little while, it took me getting shot for us to get over it.”

“i’m sorry… did you just say that you got shot?”

josie laughed, a real laugh. the first real laugh she’d let out in two months, “i did when triad attacked us a few days after you left. i had to drink hope’s blood to cure it but clearly, it worked out.”

“i can’t believe no one told me. i knew about triad but not that.” penelope said bitterly, “i’m really glad you’re okay. thank fuck for hope’s blood being the cure.”

“almost got lizzie and i out of the merge with that one.” josie mumbled, shrugging her shoulders

“hey,” penelope said slowly, like she was picking her words carefully, “don’t say that.” 

“i, uh, have a question for you.” josie said, changing the subject quickly

“go for it.”

“what happened to you always looking for me in rooms? or you appearing out of smoke to say something to me or lizzie? what happened to our staredowns in the halls or at parties? what changed?”

“josie,” penelope sighed, “after everything that happened, i realized that i shouldn't be chasing someone who clearly doesn’t want to be chased. especially not by me. i decided that i’d stop when i got back after the decision was final. it’s no good for either of us and we can’t fully move on from anything if i keep doing it.”

“oh.. that makes sense.” josie didnt want to admit to the way her heart seemed to drop at that statement, how it dropped at the feeling that maybe penelope was getting, or even already was, over her.

“i was actually hoping we could be friends now that i’m back.”

‘just friends’, josie thought, ‘penelope really is over me.’

“i’d like that a lot.” josie said, “i don’t think i can go back to ignoring you and pretending to hate you.”

“aw, you missed me.” penelope grinned

“shut up. i didn’t.” josie said, not being able to fight the blush creeping onto her face

“uh huh, sure.”

josie thought that maybe, just maybe, being friends would be nice. penelope was probably over josie now and josie could start getting over her too and learn to just be friends. after all, penelopes longing stares and the times she kissed her were all why josie still felt a little bit of something and why she never felt completely over penelope, right? 

being friends would be good. they can still be in each others lives but there was no pressure for it to be romantic. no chasing meant feelings finally going away. it meant moving on. 

—————————————————————

josie quickly learned within three short weeks just how hard it is to get over someone you already thought you were over, especially when you’re trying to be friends again.

she caught herself getting a little too close to penelope at times, like when they were in the hall and they’d brush shoulders and she still felt the familiar electric feeling she always felt. she’d brush penelopes hand while they did homework together and would have to fight to hide the blush creeping onto her face. she knew it wouldn’t do either of them any good for her to get like this when they’re trying to hang out and be friends again. just friends, nothing more. 

after their third class of the day, josie was waiting close to where she knew penelope would be. penelope walked around the corner with her posse in tow and josie felt her breath catch in her throat. she was wearing one of her many button up crop tops with top buttons undone obviously, a plaid skirt, and one of her signature ribbons around her neck. sure, it was similar to what she usually wore but god damn, did she always have to look so good?

“hey stranger,” penelope said as she approached josie, snapping her out of her thoughts, “headed to class?”

“yeah, uh, i just wanted to walk with you.” josie responded with what she hoped was a convincing grin. she couldn’t explain why she felt drawn to penelope every second and went out of her way to see her but it surely didn’t stop her from doing so. 

“good. it always feels lonely when i don’t walk with you.” penelope smiled. one of her smiles she only really gave josie, it was soft but it always told far more than any other smile she gave anyone else.

as they walked side by side, josie felt her hand brush the back of penelopes. no matter how light the touch, the feeling that flooded her body at the simplest touch was enough to almost make her visibly shake. it felt like time stopped the minute their skin touched and she thought she saw a small blush on penelopes cheeks when she quickly glanced at penelope but she was probably just making it up, seeing what she wanted to see.

josie felt dizzy along with the blush creeping onto her cheeks. she couldn’t help it, she knew she was special to penelope and no matter what their relationship was, romantic or platonic, josie knew she held a certain high place. there was no one else that penelope was like this with, none of her posse, none of her real friends, none of her family, just josie. 

“can i come by your room to do homework again tonight?” josie asked eventually, yanking herself from her own thoughts.

“just like you have been the last three weeks?” she laughed, “of course. what’s lizzie up to this time?”

“she’s actually doing a project with hope in hopes room, it’s just too empty in that room all alone and i don’t think i’ll get anything done if i’m alone.”

“you have me.” penelopes voice was barely above a whisper, she wasn’t sure if she was even meant to hear it.

“i know.” she whispered back in response, neither of them saying a word after.

—————————————————————

over the course of the next two days, they continued their small routines of eating breakfast together, meeting up between a few classes and walking together, and doing homework together at night. it felt nice, josie recalled it feeling like this before. she didn’t know how much she missed it until she got it back, even if it wasn’t fully back.

there were a few times a day where they couldn’t even cross paths without one being late, such as the time between their fourth and fifth classes of the day.

josie knew she’d be late to history if she went all the way across the school and back to walk with penelope but she didn’t seem to care. something inside her urged her to go.

she was waiting by penelopes previous class, nervously playing with her tie as she stood against the wall

“josie?” penelope questioned as she walked through the door, “aren’t you normally on the other side of the building?”

“yeah but.. here i am. i wanted to walk with you.” she shrugged

“here you are,” penelope laughed, “like you appeared out of smoke.”

“maybe you could teach me how to actually do that and i can get to my class quicker.”

“very funny but i won’t encourage you to do that, i don’t want to be on your dads bad side.”

“you’ll never be on his bad side.”

“surprised lizzie hasn’t secured my spot there.”

“he doesn’t trust what she says about you,” josie smiled lightly, “only what i tell him.”

“there’s some bad things you could’ve said in the last few months.” she mumbled

“he knew the bad things,” josie said softly, “but he still knew the good things. he chose the latter.” 

they walked in silence after that. not an uncomfortable one thankfully, they were both just lost in thought. josie wasn’t sure what penelope was thinking but all that filled her head was penelope. she couldn’t think clearly about much else. but that’s just because she missed her, right?

“this is where i gotta let you go and hope you make it on time.” penelope laughed, “thanks for walking with me.”

“thanks for letting me,” she smiled, “i’ll see you after this next class.”

“bye josie.” 

and with that, penelope walked into the room not looking back. but josie couldn’t look away. she looked into the room at where penelope sat, waiting to catch her eye, hoping she’d turn her head and make eye contact like they had before.

josie wasn’t sure how long she waited, just that she was pulled out of her trance like state when the bell rang and she realized she was going to have to accept being late and live with the consequences. a big part of her didn’t care and was already planning on doing this tomorrow. 

—————————————————————

josie knocked on hopes door after classes that day, hoping she didn’t beat lizzie and hope there. she needed to talk to them and she was frustrated with herself for not talking to them earlier. hope opened the door, snapping her out of her thoughts

“hey, i need help with something.” josie said, walking into the room and standing in the middle, lizzie watching her from the bed as hope sat down next to lizzie 

“it feels like it’s been forever since we’ve all been in here together. we all hung out here after classes for two months.” hope laughed

“yeah up until satan came back. now you’re with her almost all day.” lizzie said with an eyeroll 

“that’s actually what i need help with.. it’s penelope.” josie said, ignoring lizzie’s eyerolll and annoyed expression

“explain, please.”

“i’ve just felt.. better since she came back. like everything was empty and i saw her again and suddenly everything was whole.”

hope nodded, “you aren’t so dark anymore.”

“i’m not. i know the next few years are scary and uncertain but it’s like she’s the only thing that makes me feel okay in the middle of it all. i don’t know why i’m feeling like that.”

“do you still have feelings for her? romantically?” hope asked softly as if she was treading deep water 

“no, i don’t. i just want to be around her all the time. i was late to class so i could go to the other side of the damn school to walk her to class. i try to catch her eye all the time and hope she stares back. i want to be wherever she is and i just don’t know why but it doesn’t mean-” josie froze in the middle of her sentence, the realization hitting her like a slap in the face, her eyes going wide and mouth going dry.

“i’m still in love with her.” josie whispered

“what?” lizzie said, josie unsure if she was shocked or really didn’t hear her. she could practically hear her heart hammering in her chest.

“i’m in love with penelope.” josie said again, louder this time, “i’ve never stopped loving her.”

“it’s about time you realized that.” hope said

“what?” lizzie said again

“you’re both so clueless. josie and penelope have been in love with each other this whole damn time.”

“i don’t think she’s in love with me anymore.” josie said, tears forming quickly in her eyes, “she doesn’t want me the way she used to, she wants to just be friends.”

“that girl was so in love with you three months ago that she had to leave the school and the country because she couldn’t stick around to watch something that could happen to you in six years. she knew she would love you that long, josie. why the hell would two months away stop her?”

“then why would she want to be just friends? why would she stop chasing me?” 

“you have to ask her that yourself, josie.” lizzie said, “as much as talking about the dark lord in a good way puts a bad taste in my mouth, you're right, you’ve been so much better with her around again. you haven’t been like this in a long time. plus, you owe it to yourself to talk to her about this or you’ll just be miserable again.”

josie nodded, wiping her tears and catching her breath as lizzie shot her a sympathetic look and hugged her tightly, “when should i talk to her about this?” josie whispered

“when it feels right.” hope said

“i think you’ll know when.” lizzie said, “it’ll come naturally at the right time.”

josie nodded, taking a deep breath. she just hopes she can hold it in for the right moment and not fuck it up. she doesn’t want this going bad again. 

—————————————————————

“it still hasn’t felt like the right time.” josie groaned as she walked into hopes room, lizzie following behind her. it had only been two days since josie realized just how in love she still was with penelope. she felt more on edge with penelope than usual, she was terrified of letting it slip at the wrong time. 

“you all are doing homework in her room tonight, right?” lizzie asked, “just like every night?”

josie nodded, “i still don’t think it’ll feel right then. i think it would’ve already felt like it should happen today if that was the case.”

“maybe it’ll hit you when you’re sitting on her bed.. you know.. with all the memories i’m sure you two have there.” hope snickered

“gross.” lizzie said, scrunching up her face and fake gagging

“shut up, we’ve sat on her bed before. that won’t be it.” josie said, a blush creeping onto her face at hopes suggestion 

“but there’s no denial to what i said.” hope laughed

“get your head out of the gutter before i projectile vomit all over your room.” lizzie groaned

“just wait for their pda to start again.” 

“don’t remind me. it makes me feel sick just thinking about seeing satan with her tongue down my sisters throat.”

“i’m right here.” josie laughed

“i could say a lot worse.” 

“you’re taking this better than i thought you would considering your reaction to her coming back and how you two have treated each other since we broke up.”

“i want you to be happy, jo. her leaving took a toll on you but then she came back and you were more yourself than you had been in two months.”

“she makes me happy.” josie said, “i understand everything a lot better now.”

“what do you mean?”

“the night she left.. she told me that i would understand why she did everything she did.” josie said slowly, “meaning i’d understand why she acted the way she did and did the things she did. she just wanted to push me to put myself and my needs first and she knew how to do it.”

“it’s hard to hate her when everything she does seems to be for you.”

“maybe try not hating her, liz. once her and josie get all lovey dovey again, maybe try being her friend.” hope shrugged

“i can try but i don’t make any promises.” 

“well that’s at least a start.” josie said, “i can talk to penelope, too. i know she hasn’t acted the way she used to towards you but i can tell her you’re trying to do the same.”

lizzie nodded as hope cleared her throat, “you normally go there at six, right?” she asked and josie nodded, “well it’s six now so you better hurry.”

josie shot them both a nervous look before nodding again, grabbing her backpack and opening the door. she waved to the two girls as she walked out. 

“go get your girl back!” lizzie said as josie shut the door behind her, a small smile growing on her face

she walked down the hall, heading towards penelopes room while lost in thought. luckily, she knew she could find penelopes room with her eyes closed. she’d done it plenty of times before. her feet carried her there naturally just as they always had. she knocked on the door, her nerves rising as she waited for it to be opened.

“hey josie,” penelope said with a grin, “just the person i wanted to see.”

“oh really?” josie said, raising an eyebrow and hoping she didn’t sound nervous. realizing her feelings again gave her a whiplash of emotions and thoughts when she saw penelope. how pretty she is, how soft she sounds when talking to josie, how beautiful this real, happy smile on her face.

“always. ready to get started on this homework?” 

penelope stepped to the side and josie walked into the room, taking a deep breath as she heard penelope shut the door behind her. she could do this, she could tell her tonight. 

“as ready as i’ll ever be.”

—————————————————————

“i have a question.” josie blurted.

they had been in penelopes room for about two hours, going back and forth from homework and talking. josie hadn’t been able to shake the thoughts from her head and was tapping her pencil nervously on the page of her notebook. penelope was deep in thought, writing something for english class and not paying any attention to josies nervous tapping.

“go for it.” penelope said, looking up, “i could use a break from writing.”

“i.. uh.. how was belgium? i realized i never asked?” josie said, fumbling over her words. as soon as she went to ask, she felt the nerves bubble up more, she wasn’t sure if it was even the right time anymore.

“you seem very unsure of yourself.” penelope laughed, “but it was nice, very pretty. there were some nice people at the school, some pretty girls too. just not enough for me to feel like i needed to stay-”

josie cut penelope off by pressing her lips to hers. she wasn’t sure what came over her and made her do it out of nowhere, especially when penelope was in the middle of talking but just as she was about to pull away and probably run out of the room in embarrassment, penelope kissed her back. with more force than she expected, notebooks and pens falling off their laps and onto the ground.

penelope reached up and put one hand on the back of josie’s neck and the other carefully on the side of her face as josie wrapped her arms around penelopes middle, pulling her as close as she could. their lips moved in sync and it felt exactly like it always had: familiar, safe, natural. like they fit perfectly together when they did anything at all, like they were a perfect match in so many ways. it felt like they had been suffocating slowly and this was their first breath of air, it felt like time slowed and any tension easily melted away.

eventually penelope pulled away, not dropping her hands from their place as she rested her forehead against josies, “i’m sorry.” josie whispered as she caught her breath

“why are you apologizing?” penelope asked softly, eyes still closed 

“we’re supposed to be friends now. just friends.”

“that didn’t stop you from kissing me.” penelope said, “or stop me from kissing you back.”

“i thought you were over me.” josie admitted

“when did i ever say that?” penelopes eyes snapped open at that, looking deep into josies.

josie’s eyes went wide, she finally realized that all this time she had been assuming penelope was over her without much reasoning other than penelope not chasing her, “i just thought since you weren’t chasing me anymore and wanted to be friends that you were over me.”

“do you know how hard it’s been for me to not kiss you? how much i wanted to when i first saw you when i got back? i didn’t want to chase someone who didn’t want to be chased because that never worked out well for us. if anything was going to happen again, it had to be a different way.”

“you waited for me to chase you.”

“i did.” penelope smiled softly, “i was always chasing you to get you to know i still cared, i knew the one way to figure out if you really still felt the same was to see if you’d chase me too.”

josie laughed lightly, “at first i didn’t realize i was doing it. it was like i just acted that way without a second thought and i just thought i missed you so much that i wanted to see you as much as i could. it didn’t cross my mind that i still loved you until i was talking to lizzie and hope.”

“you still love me?” penelope asked, her breath audibly hitching 

“shit. i have no control over what i keep doing tonight,” josie said quietly, “yeah i do. i always have. i didn’t get to say it back but i wanted to say it the night you left.”

“i didn’t expect you to say it back that night with everything i dumped on you. besides, i thought you hadn’t loved me for a while.”

“there was a point where i didn’t want to, but i’ve never stopped.”

“i haven’t either.” 

“i know,” josie smiled and penelope leaned back in, gently pressing their lips together for a brief second before pulling away again, “where do we go from here?”

“we could try things again? no use in not trying after all the chasing we’ve done.”

“i’d love that, i couldn’t want anything more.”

“perfect.” penelope grinned as she pulled josie back in for another kiss, lips moving in sync more intense than before. penelope moved her arms to circle josies waist and pull her forward until the taller girl was sitting in her lap, hands on either side of her face.

“as much i hate to do this,” josie said as she pulled away, lightly pressing another kiss to penelopes lips before she continued, “we should be getting our homework done.”

“always the reasonable one,” penelope sighed before nodding with a smirk, “the faster we finish, the faster we can pick this back up.”

“there are two hours until curfew.. i like how you think.” josie grinned as she slowly climbed off penelopes lap and reached down to grab their fallen materials before handing penelope her things.

“haven’t you always?”

josie laughed as she settled, sitting closer to penelope than she had before, knees touching and hands purposefully brushing each others as they worked, the smiles never leaving their faces.

—————————————————————

the next morning, josie woke completely happy, the first time she’d done that in a while. she had gotten back right at curfew, lizzie sound asleep in her own bed by the time she got back. the two got up and got ready in a comfortable silence, doing their own things at first as they always did. the silence was broken by a knock at the door but just from the way the person outside knocked, josie knew it was hope.

“you’re in a good mood,” lizzie commented as she opened the door to let hope in, “i guess things went well?”

“yeah, they did.” josie grinned

“i’m so happy for you, jo.” hope smiled, “you really have seemed happier ever since she got back.”

“i’m happy, shes happy. we’re happy.” 

“details, please.” lizzie said with a smile 

just as josie was about to answer, there was a knock on the door and she grinned at the two in the room before opening the door to reveal a soft, smiling penelope. 

“hey jojo.” she grinned as she took hold of josies tie to pull her forward and kiss her softly

“hi.” josie giggled as she slowly pulled away, holding eye contact with one another

“i think that answers our question, lizzie.” hope spoke from behind them

josie grabbed penelopes hand and lightly pulled her into the room, both of them now facing hope and lizzie.

“lizzie before you say anything-” penelope started

“i won’t. i’m happy for you guys. really, i am. josie hasn’t seemed this happy in a long time.” lizzie said, “i know we haven’t really ever gotten along but for her sake, i’ll make sure we do.”

“wow. thanks lizzie.” penelope said, sounding taken aback by lizzie’s comment, “it isn’t fair for me to be so evil towards you anymore so i’m glad we’re on the same page.”

“josies told us a lot more since you came back. why you did the things you did, the things you’ve told her. lizzie said it’s hard to hate you when you care about josie as much as you do.” hope said

“hey! don’t ruin my reputation.” lizzie said, throwing a pillow from her bed at hope

“what reputation?” penelope laughed, rolling her eyes with a smirk 

“ha ha, very funny.” lizzie laughed, “hope, wanna go down to breakfast? leave the happy couple alone for a minute? the pda that’s gonna start any second based on the way they’re looking at each other might make me sick and i want a head start away from it.”

hope nodded and took lizzie’s hand for a moment, guiding her out of the room, “have fun lovebirds. come find us at breakfast once you’re ready.”

hope shut the door behind her and almost instantly, penelope was stepping as close to josie as she could get, closing the distance between them in a feverish kiss. josie wrapped her arms around penelopes shoulders , smiling slightly as she kissed back, pressing herself into penelope as much as she could. 

“i love you jojo.” penelope smiled as she pulled away, resting her forehead against josies

“i love you too, penny.” josie grinned right back, “always have.”

“i see your sister doesn’t hate my guts, she even refrained from calling me satan.”

“she really did mean it when she said that it’s hard to hate you when everything you’ve done is for me. i think she realizes now that you two care about me more than anyone.” 

“i’ll make a formal apology soon,” penelope said, “for your sake and to help us start on a good foot.”

“i like the way you think.” josie said, kissing penelope on her forehead before turning away to grab her backpack, grabbing penelopes hand as they walked out the door.

“maybe i’ll write her a letter. you think she’d read it in time?”

“shut up.” josie laughed as penelope laced their fingers together as they walked down the hall towards the cafeteria, genuine smiles on their faces as people watched, confusion on quite a few faces.

they were back to something they weren’t sure would ever happen again. it was all familiar, it as comfortable, it was safe and natural. it simply felt like home.

no one was quite sure what was going to happen in the next six years but there was time to figure that out. what josie knew was that despite every heartbreaking new thing she learned three months ago, she truly felt lighter and happier than she had in a long time. she didn’t really mind the next six years being so uncertain for now. she finally had penelope by her side in the way they had both longed to have again. that was enough for her to be happy for the next six years and hopefully for years and years after that.

**Author's Note:**

> let me know how ya feel about this in the comments or my twitter is @selfishxposie :)


End file.
